Everything good about End of Eva, and none of the confusion. Nice to have that theory about Yui confirmed, too.

More detail on my reread.

Blessed be.
-n
(Oh, come -on-. I can't possibly be first done. I read fast, but not -that- fast.)

You know, the Yui thing was kind of a 'short mention' thing to me, really. SHODAN mentions that in one scene, then it's never even spoke of anymore.

>Certainly Rei could have been more astonished. If you had
>asked her to draw up a list of people she thought it least likely
>would be loitering in the snack room of the temporary admin building
>at 12:04 AM to grab her up and give her a hug, Rachael Swiftedge would
>have been about forty-seventh. Nevertheless, forty-seventh isn't very
>high, and so she was still pretty astonished.

I wonder who's on her top three? <grin>

I must say that I've VERY sastified at how this ended. 99% of all loose ends were tied up (and the 1% is just little stuff like what's with SHODAN and Durandal) and it doesn't leave that HORRIBLE feeling after watching EoE, which is a big plus on my books!

I better leave lots of stuff for others to post. Otherwise I might find my head nailed to a wall. <chuckle>

>You know, the Yui thing was kind of a 'short mention' thing to me,
>really. SHODAN mentions that in one scene, then it's never even spoke
>of anymore.

Who was there to mention it to after that? SHODAN doesn't particularly want anyone to know.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>You know, the Yui thing was kind of a 'short mention' thing to me,
>>really. SHODAN mentions that in one scene, then it's never even spoke
>>of anymore.
>
>Who was there to mention it to after that? SHODAN doesn't
>particularly want anyone to know.

I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, she might want Gendo to know, if she is, in some way, Yui.

But then, maybe she doesn't want Gendo to go through the kind of pain that knowing that some form of his wife still exists and he still can't be with her in any real sense would give him. And besides, she's only part Yui. Since it's now clear that she was a Grigori, I take it that whatever is left of Yui is in some form a "remnant" like Rei and Tabris were? Or am I reading the wrong meaning into this based on too much In Nomine influence?

-Logan

	I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there, and slay the thing that hounds you as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. --Prince Lir, The Last Unicorn

>I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, she might want Gendo to know,
>if she is, in some way, Yui.

Possibly someday, but not right now. He's still developing into the next stage of what he's going to be. Maybe when he gets there he'll be ready to know.

>And besides, she's
>only part Yui. Since it's now clear that she was a Grigori, I take it
>that whatever is left of Yui is in some form a "remnant" like Rei and
>Tabris were?

That's basically correct, yes. SHODAN is in many respects a different individual (she's a composite of the original SHODAN personality and what remains of Yui), who embodies what Forces remain from Yui. (As you can see by the fact that she displays will in stuffing Hal in a box and arranging for Natlateth's termination, she's regained a celestial Force, something Rei also did. Unlike Rei, though, she hasn't regained all of them, and it's very doubtful she ever will. Rei will never be what she was before the Second Impact, but she's a lot closer than SHODAN will ever come.)

Tabris wasn't a remnant, just a severely broken angel. The distinction is fine, but somewhat important. Mostly it was the loss of his wings that drove him mad.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

It may be observed that recovering a Celestial Force, in game terms, is bloody hard to do. Especially if you've lost ALL of them.

>It may be observed that recovering a Celestial Force, in game terms,
>is bloody hard to do. Especially if you've lost ALL of them.

This is true. But Gryphon long ago pointed out that NXE does not hew close and fast to all of In Nomine canon.

-- Bob
-------------------
Bill Gates is a white Persian cat and a monocle away from becoming another James Bond villain: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to upgrade." -- Dennis Miller

>Rei will never be what she was before the Second Impact, but she's a
>lot closer than SHODAN will ever come.)

And arguably better off in some ways than she was before, although that may vary with the individual viewer's perspective.

-- Bob
-------------------
Bill Gates is a white Persian cat and a monocle away from becoming another James Bond villain: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to upgrade." -- Dennis Miller

>I must say that I've VERY sastified at how this ended. 99% of all
>loose ends were tied up (and the 1% is just little stuff like what's
>with SHODAN and Durandal) and it doesn't leave that HORRIBLE feeling
>after watching EoE, which is a big plus on my books!

The only real question I have is which direction did Durandal go after his apparent conversion to the realm of the spirit. Every thing else seemed to be tied up quite neatly.

Kheram Coldstar

LAST EDITED ON 05-17-03 AT 00:20 AM (EDT)
 
>The only real question I have is which direction did Durandal go after
>his apparent conversion to the realm of the spirit. Every thing else
>seemed to be tied up quite neatly.

'Better to reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven' is, if I remember correctly, a line from Milton's Paradise Lost. Specifically a rationalization made by Lucifer after he got kicked out of his office upstairs.

I think it's a pretty good bet which way Durandal went.

Somehow I think that the lives of the Princes just got a lot more complicated.

(I wonder if Valputa has any Mjolner class cyborgs lying around?)

Just finished it. Incredible. Whatever that worlds future may be, I think it's in good hands.

And in regards to Rachael, you've obviously been working on this a lot lately. Very nice.

(Full review tomorrow, when I have net access again)

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter
My LiveJournal
The War never ends.

Okay, finally hit the end credits.

Impressive work, hat's off to the lot of you. As Lucifer said, take the rest of the decade off.

Off the top of my head...

MOST CONFUSING SCENE WHEN TAKEN OUT-OF-CONTEXT: DJ and Lucifer playing the blues in a bar in downtown Amsterdam.

BEST COMPLETION OF A HERO TURN: Gendou Ikari - former Utter Bastard - slicing, then squeezing, Natalteth out of existence. You could have left it with the kaiju battle and we'd have been no less thrilled, but it's the personal touch that counts.

RUNNER-UP: Kaori Yamashita leans into the strike zone and takes one for the team.

NABESHIN AWARD FOR BEST HELPFUL MYSTERY MAN: Dan Ellison. Slugged, stripped, stuffed into a closet (and IIRC got the shit kicked out of him in NXE 3:9, too) and yet manages to help the good guys and vanish into the background.

BEST YEAH-OKAY-THAT'S-SCARY TRIVIA MOMENT: Dominic's taste in poets.

BEST I'VE-BEEN-WAITING-FOR-THAT-TO-HAPPEN-FOR-YEARS MOMENT: Laurence getting kicked to the curb for being arrogant and frankly not too bright.

RUNNER-UP: Asuka telling God off, and God's reply.

SECOND RUNNER-UP: Asuka (yet again!) not taking any more shit from celestials.

And last but not least...

BEST TRIBUTE: Rachael.

--
Mr. Fnord

>(Oh, come -on-. I can't possibly be first done. I read fast, but not
>-that- fast.)

Would have finished sooner, but was on page 7 when I got the call that I'm an Uncle for the first time... took me a while to float back down again :)

Now the comments:

First off, Wow. Bravo Gryph and Co., you definitely did justice to what NXE led up to. I was especially touched with how pervasive Rachael was, although I get the impression that the character was initially there at some level, and was then re-written as a tribute. I also liked your throwing Derek in there in a way that worked well.

My brain appears to be spinning and not very coherant, so I'll wait until later to give a detailed commentary, but one thing keeps jumping out at me: Well OF COURSE Yves is God :) I know, he supposedly only acts as an occasional host for God's Voice, but it just seems too convenient. Not that it matters, it just was a fun one.

More tomorrow, after I've re-read and let it percolate some.

Offsides

I have looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked also back into me.
Neither of us liked what we saw.
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

>Would have finished sooner, but was on page 7 when I got the call that
>I'm an Uncle for the first time... took me a while to float back down
>again :)

well, hey, congratulations!

>I was especially touched with how pervasive
>Rachael was, although I get the impression that the character was
>initially there at some level, and was then re-written as a tribute.

I needed a character to do what she does, but I didn't have a clear concept for one until about 3 weeks ago. And at that, she was a team effort. The two scenes written with the protocharacter were converted by Anne Cross, and that's what sparked everything into motion. We all put our two cents in, which is why she doesn't have just one creator listed in the credits.

>My brain appears to be spinning and not very coherant, so I'll wait
>until later to give a detailed commentary, but one thing keeps jumping
>out at me: Well OF COURSE Yves is God :)

Here's a bit of production trivia: Believe it or not, I arrived at the mental casting of Patrick Stewart as Yves and Sir Ian McKellen as Lucifer independently, not because they were both in a movie I recently saw. I don't normally cast live actors in original-character roles except for special cases like K&J, but Stewart just jumped into my head as Yves. He's one of the very few actors I can picture credibly playing a kindly, stooped old librarian who suddenly straightens up and speaks with the cracking-whip voice of God Almighty.

As for McKellen, that's mainly because I got a vivid image of him delivering the "Well, well, if it isn't Laurence Dullblade" line. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>Would have finished sooner, but was on page 7 when I got the call that
>>I'm an Uncle for the first time... took me a while to float back down
>>again :)
>
>well, hey, congratulations!
>
Thanks!

>>I was especially touched with how pervasive
>>Rachael was, although I get the impression that the character was
>>initially there at some level, and was then re-written as a tribute.
>
>I needed a character to do what she does, but I didn't have a clear
>concept for one until about 3 weeks ago. And at that, she was a team
>effort. The two scenes written with the protocharacter were converted
>by Anne Cross, and that's what sparked everything into motion. We all
>put our two cents in, which is why she doesn't have just one creator
>listed in the credits.
>
Wow, nice job. And I'm really glad Rachael got to have her hand in it. Well Done.

>>My brain appears to be spinning and not very coherant, so I'll wait
>>until later to give a detailed commentary, but one thing keeps jumping
>>out at me: Well OF COURSE Yves is God :)
>
>Here's a bit of production trivia: Believe it or not, I arrived at the
>mental casting of Patrick Stewart as Yves and Sir Ian McKellen as
>Lucifer independently, not because they were both in a movie I
>recently saw. I don't normally cast live actors in original-character
>roles except for special cases like K&J, but Stewart just jumped into
>my head as Yves. He's one of the very few actors I can picture
>credibly playing a kindly, stooped old librarian who suddenly
>straightens up and speaks with the cracking-whip voice of God
>Almighty.
>
Yeah, I can see that. I had no clue those are who you were using until I saw the credits, but they work well.

>As for McKellen, that's mainly because I got a vivid image of him
>delivering the "Well, well, if it isn't Laurence Dullblade" line. :)
>
And what a line :) Although, I do think that Sir Ian is a little old now to fit the description of Lucifer, but I can see a younger version doing it (at least physically - given Lucifer's "age" the current personality could certainly carry over).

Offsides

I have looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked also back into me.
Neither of us liked what we saw.
EPU RCW #&pi
#include <stdsig.h>

>My brain appears to be spinning and not very coherant, so I'll wait
>until later to give a detailed commentary, but one thing keeps jumping
>out at me: Well OF COURSE Yves is God :)

Hey, it's no coincidence that his picture in the In Nom core book looks suspiciously like George Burns... <grin>

While I'm here, I just finished literally five minutes ago, and I'm still reeling. Give me a little time (and a little sleep) to process the whole thing. I'm glad to see I was right about there being Grigori influences among the pilots, even if I was wrong about how pervasive it was...

-- Bob
-------------------
Bill Gates is a white Persian cat and a monocle away from becoming another James Bond villain: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to upgrade." -- Dennis Miller

>While I'm here, I just finished literally five minutes ago, and I'm
>still reeling. Give me a little time (and a little sleep) to process
>the whole thing. I'm glad to see I was right about there being
>Grigori influences among the pilots, even if I was wrong about how
>pervasive it was...

So is that the reason Shinji could generate an AT field?
His MOM was a Grigori?

>So is that the reason Shinji could generate an AT field?
>His MOM was a Grigori?

Yes, Shinji Ikati's mom, Yui Ikari, was a Grigori. Go back and read the section where Rei explains the Grigori to Asuka on the tower after Rei's flight. Now read the section where Shodan is explaining to Natlateth how long she's waited for vengence, and why. It's the scene right before Gendo destroys and soul-kills Natateth once and for all. Once again, in NXE canon, Shinji's mom, Yui Ikari, was a Grigori. No one knew it with the exception of one human and one demon. Both of them dead now. The angels didn't know. Gendo didn't know. Only God knows now. And he ain't talkin'.

-Logan

	I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there, and slay the thing that hounds you as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. --Prince Lir, The Last Unicorn

>>So is that the reason Shinji could generate an AT field?
>>His MOM was a Grigori?
>
>Yes, Shinji Ikati's mom, Yui Ikari, was a Grigori. Go back and read
>the section where Rei explains the Grigori to Asuka on the tower after
>Rei's flight. Now read the section where Shodan is explaining to
>Natlateth how long she's waited for vengence, and why. It's the scene
>right before Gendo destroys and soul-kills Natateth once and for all.
>Once again, in NXE canon, Shinji's mom, Yui Ikari, was a Grigori. No
>one knew it with the exception of one human and one demon. Both of
>them dead now. The angels didn't know. Gendo didn't know. Only God
>knows now. And he ain't talkin'.
>
>-Logan

I may have phrased that wrongly... i remembered that his mom was
Grigori.. I just wanted confirmation that thatwas the reason.:)

Ah... I see. Yes, that would be the reason Shinji could generate an AT field. In the In Nomine source materiel, some of the children of the Grigori survived to pass on their genes. And a few (VERY few) Grigori, over the millenia, have had more children. Anyone with Grigori blood has the potential for having more forces than a normal human. It was not defined in hard cold facts just exactly what a person with Grigori heritage could do in the game. But it was implied that you could use this as an excuse for any number of odd things, including various forms of psionic and mage talent. One would presume that in NXE, that includes the talent to pilot an EVA. Someone like Shinji, with a direct Grigori parentage, would be capable of even more interesting things, like - say - generate a personal AT field under stress.

-Logan

	I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there, and slay the thing that hounds you as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. --Prince Lir, The Last Unicorn

Impressions on my part?

The story matched, and in a fair few places exceeded, the best expectations I dared hold for it. Quite lovely piece of text, guys. Quite lovely indeed.

But, let's be more specific, shall we? We shall.

Say what you will, System Shock lives. Kudos for the Psi-Amp Mk II. I always liked the Navy choice better, but that thing DID bring back some nice memories of trekking through the Von Braun with just the little black ball of mystery hooked into your arm. And quite frankly, you severely cracked me on SHODAN's line:

>"Loo/lOO/look at yOu, n/NA/natlaTEth," mused SHODAN. "A
pa/pAtheTiC cReaTUrE of m/M/meAt aNd bONe, pa/pAnTInG anD sWeATiNg aS
yOu rU/Ru/ruN thROugH mY CoRRiDoRs. HoW cAn yOU chAlLEnGe HeAVeN's
ChosEn wa/wA/wARrIoRs iN sUch a ConDiTIoN?"<

*Sigh* Oh sweet nostalgia. All those who remember a similar bit hurled at their alter-egos appreciate its inclusion into this fic. All the others simply think it's very neat. Still, it's nice to know that SHODAN's torturing the bad guy for a change.

Other remarkable bits ... well, the most crackable moments, as in the neighbors complained about the noise volume at three in the morning, were Kensuke's little 'mecha hero' speeches during the fight. Reminds me of classics like Deimos and the like. Nifty.

That, and also the bit where they introduce the adorable little nuke. Heh.

Going off on a tangent for a moment ... so, is Durandal the new Prince of Darkness?

And why does my mind keep insisting on casting Zoner as Zed?

More comments may be forthcoming later, after I get some actual shuteye. I _was_ going to read it this morning, but ... umm, I think I've got an 'overzealous fanboy' gene or something. It's five twenty in the AM over here right now, which means I make roughly 100K per hour, and it got released at 12 in the PM over on this side of the Pond - I'm in Berlin right now. Thank Hells it's Fri ... err, Saturday. Right. Bye now.

-Griever
RCW XIII ... no the _other_ thirteen.
The Griever is currently out of order ... please leave a message after the beep.

>Other remarkable bits ... well, the most crackable moments, as in the
>neighbors complained about the noise volume at three in the morning,
>were Kensuke's little 'mecha hero' speeches during the fight. Reminds
>me of classics like Deimos and the like. Nifty.
>
Actually I had this image of Ken sometime after the series saying 'my name is Daigouji Gai!!'

Speaking of SHODAN and her ilk...

-----
"This is Xerxes," it said, in the tone of a general PA
announcement - but somehow, Natlateth knew it was speaking directly to
her. "The reactor core is off-limits to all Pit-spawned evil-doers.
Security forces are en route to terminate your hellbitch ass. We
apologize for any inconvenience. ... Ici Xerxes. Le coeur du réacteur
est interdit à tout intrus ayant été engendré par le Puits. Notre
service de securité se met en route pour mieux vous casser la pipe,
espèce de fils de pute de calisse de merde d'hostie d'enculeur.
Nous vous prions d'excuser tout inconvénient."
-----

GO XERXES!!!

LAST EDITED ON 05-17-03 AT 00:53 AM (EDT)
 
>Ici Xerxes. Le coeur du réacteur
>est interdit à tout intrus ayant été engendré par le Puits. Notre
>service de securité se met en route pour mieux vous casser la pipe,
>espèce de fils de pute de calisse de merde d'hostie d'enculeur.
>Nous vous prions d'excuser tout inconvénient."
>-----
>GO XERXES!!!

I have a wonderful little book, a dictionary of French profanity and obscenity. I need to dig it out and translate this passage properly. Especially since it seems like someone has done it for the Russian and the German already...

-- Bob
(Edit: Removed excess quote that I should have removed the first time.)
-------------------
Bill Gates is a white Persian cat and a monocle away from becoming another James Bond villain: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to upgrade." -- Dennis Miller

>I have a wonderful little book, a dictionary of French profanity and
>obscenity. I need to dig it out and translate this passage properly.
>Especially since it seems like someone has done it for the Russian and
>the German already...

Babelfish is faintly amusing:

"Here Xerxes. The heart of the engine is interdict to any intruder
having been generated by the Well. Our service of security gets under
way for better breaking you the pipe, species of wire of whore of
calisse of shit of host of enculor. We ask you to excuse any
disadvantage."

Our French translator advised Gryph and I that that particular obscenity is wildly idiomatic Quebecois usage. Bob, you might have some luck with your book, but Babelfish et al. are Not Going To Get It.

The sense I got was roughly "you cocksucking son-of-a-bitchin' shitspawned motherfucker," in intensity of upset if not in proper translation.

Ard

>Our French translator advised Gryph and I that that particular
>obscenity is wildly idiomatic Quebecois usage. Bob, you might have
>some luck with your book,

Maybe not. My book is strictly continental French, with an emphasis on Parisian street slang. If the Quebecois is sufficiently divergent, I probably won't find anything that make sense.

-- Bob (who has yet to locate the book because he still hasn't fully unpacked the library after three years in the new house...)
-------------------
Bill Gates is a white Persian cat and a monocle away from becoming another James Bond villain: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to upgrade." -- Dennis Miller

>Bob, you might have some luck with your book, but Babelfish et al.
>are Not Going To Get It.

IHNJ, IJLS "for better breaking you the pipe".

My immediate reaction:

(lays forehead on floor) I cast a shadow in your presence, for you have finally written an Eva fic that gives a satisfying wrapup and does not mess with my head.

The only thing I can immediately think to comment on otherwise is a matter of style and personal preference, and having read it back after typing it works just as well your way.

I think I'm going to have to waait until I've slept some to get into anything deaied; I've been going to bed about the time this was posted fr the past week, and need to maintain that pattern.

- CD

>(lays forehead on floor) I cast a shadow in your presence, for you
>have finally written an Eva fic that gives a satisfying wrapup and
>does not mess with my head.

Higher Learning.

And, in an attempt at content - The whole 'singing the soviet anthem' thing struck a bell, but it took me a while to realize from where. Nice to see people still remember the Hunt for Red October.

Blessed be.
-n

>And, in an attempt at content - The whole 'singing the soviet anthem'
>thing struck a bell, but it took me a while to realize from where.
>Nice to see people still remember the Hunt for Red October.

Why shouldn't they, there's a thread around here somewhere with a bunch of quotes from it (great movie it is too, I keep forgetting to buy the DVD).
So it's an influence for that scene but it's also a point that if the Hanagumi were involved in the re-enforcing they'd be doing 'Geki! Teikoku Kageki-dan'.

I like what they've done with Gendo, this is one version I could stand to be around. Hmmm, NIT Kendo champ, wonder if he met the Morisato's...

--Rod.H

Just finished it myself too. I laughed, I cried, and not at all confused. All the loose ends tied up, several million questions answered, and, well, overall a quite well written movie style story. Much thanks Gryphon, and keep up the good work.

Too bad that now means no more NXE... but, I think I can live with that ^_^

LAST EDITED ON 05-17-03 AT 09:34 AM (EDT)
 
Wow. Just wow, I just spent the last six and a half hours in front of my computer reading this. I tried vainly to pull myself away from it halfway into it and finish watching the second season of B5 but it pulled me back in before I could even start the first episode.

I loved all the scenes with Rachael in them and can only hope that wherever she is, Rachie enjoyed them as much as I did. I am curious what the Almighty's 'suitable reward' is but man, what a tale. There are just way to many good points to list. Thanks for a wonderful story Gryphon and Co.

-Eden

>I loved all the scenes with Rachael in them and can only hope that
>wherever she is, Rachie enjoyed them as much as I did. I am curious
>what the Almighty's 'suitable reward' is but man, what a tale.

Well, informed sources (aka the story itself) do mention to us that the seat of Archangel of the Sword is currently vacant and needs someone to sit in it....

--
Geoff Depew - Darth Mephron
Haberdasher to Androids, Dark Lord of Sith Tech Support.
"I find your lack of clue disturbing."

LAST EDITED ON 05-18-03 AT 12:23 PM (EDT)
 
Technically it's not the Archangel of Sword's seat. It's 'just' a seat on the Seraphim Council. If you really want to get technical about it, Lawrence is sitting in the seat that his former boss, Uriel the Archangel of Purity, sat in before God kicked him in the aft for killing off all the creatures of myth and in general being as much of a public nuisance as an archangel can be without actually falling in the process.

More importantly, this means that an Archangel needs to step in and take over the job of managing God's army on Earth. Michael's too busy as the rough equivalent of a Five Star General to deal with a single front in the War, he might be the second oldest Celestial around (counting Yves, not counting The Big Guy) but that doesn't mean he can be everywhere at once.

>More importantly, this means that an Archangel needs to step in and
>take over the job of managing God's army on Earth. Michael's too busy
>as the rough equivalent of a Five Star General to deal with a single
>front in the War, he might be the second oldest Celestial around
>(counting Yves, not counting The Big Guy) but that doesn't mean he can
>be everywhere at once.

...Well. Rachie certainly wouldn't repeat the mistakes of her predecessors. I like this thought.

Blessed be.
-n

I can't see her rising through the ranks quite this swiftly...

The Seraphim Council is really something of an Old Boy's Club, when you get right down to it, and a former servant of Eli's would have yet another strike against them, even with the high placement of her current boss. (Dominc is often an ass, but he's a very high-ranking ass that a lot of folks are afraid of ticking off.) Added to this, I'm not entirely certain Rachael even has a Word yet, so it would be rather hard to get her on the Council. Traditioanlly, an angel would go from serving an Archangel, to getting their own word to promote within their master's Word, to eventually becoming an Archangel themselves. And then there's the whole period of time where the older Archangels eye the new guy suspiciously, as I recall the Archangel of Flowers is still considered a dirty hippie by most of the Council...

More likely some hard-working Archangel who hasn't gotten the nod yet will get the distinction. Never underestimate the power of a bureacracy.

>I can't see her rising through the ranks quite this swiftly...
>
>More likely some hard-working Archangel who hasn't gotten the nod yet
>will get the distinction. Never underestimate the power of a
>bureacracy.

Maybe, but the word from on high kinda trumps all that. Personally, I just suddenly got the image of the Lord Almighty promoting her, but not having her take a direct seat on the council... Instead, like Tabris, being appointed as Steward for Eli, and gradually gathering back the servents of creation, so that everything is made ready for that day when he does return.